Filing cabinet structure



Oct. 20, 1953 J. A'DLER 2,656,238

. FILING CABINET STRUCTURE Filed April 14, 1952 FIG. E

IN VEN TOR. JACK APLEB ATTOR/VL'Y Patented Oct. 20, 1953 UNITED STAT F'EENT OFFICE.

3 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in that class of goods generally known as sheet-metal filing cabinets and more especially to the manufacture of the same insofar as it relates to the joining of the several structural parts thereof into a rigid and firmly interlocked relation, to thereby enable such cabinets to stand usage for unusually long periods of time without becoming loose or unsteady at said joints.

One of the principal objects of the invention is to so construct a cabinet of the kind described, that the work may be done smoothly, simply, rapidly and economically under ordinary production basis methods.

The invention has among its other objects the production of such joints that will be neat and simple, of low cost, with a minimum number of operations and elements, and which will be otherwise safe, satisfactory and efficient for use wherever deemed applicable.

Many other objects and advantages of the construction herein shown and described, and the uses mentioned, will be obvious to those skilled in the art to which this invention appertains, from the disclosures hereinafter recited.

In the drawings, wherein like reference characters represent like or corresponding parts throughout the views,

Figure 1 is a fragmentary perspective of a cabinet, showing the joint structure of the same;

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional View of the same, taken substantially along the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Figures 3, 4 and 5 are fragmentary views of the slide rail, side wall and front rail respectively; and

Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view taken substantially along the line 6-6 of Fig. 5.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, wherein I have illustrated a preferred embodiment of my invention, only those portions of the cabinet structure that are novel and embraced inmy invention, have been shown, the remaining cabinet structure being of any standard or special construction.

This cabinet is preferably made of sheet steel or similarly cheap and sturdy material, generally into a prismatic shape, and of a height required for the predetermined number of filing drawers to suit the users desires. One of the side walls I of the opposed pair of vertically extending side walls of the cabinet is shown, the forward portion of said wall being bent or otherwise shaped to provide the relatively narrow vertical- 1y extending front face 2 and then bent reentrantly so that the free edge 3 of said flange 4 thus formed is directed toward the rear of the side wall, for the short distance shown. if desired, said free edge may be provided with the shallow rib 5 closely adjacent the same and extending for substantially the full height of the wall.

At the intervals of the height where it is desired to locate the drawer-receiving slides and cabinet supporting front rails there is a joint made between the side walls and the drawer-rails and front rails, as will now be described.

Each flange i has a vertically extending elongated cut-out thereinto, the latter opening onto the free edge of said flange and formed of the pair of vertically spaced bounding edges 5-6 extending horizontally forwardly for a predetermined distance and terminating at the vertically extending forward edge I that connects said edges t--6. In addition, there is a slit 3 extending vertically upwardly from the upper edge of said cut-out to provide a bendable finger 9 for a purpose to be hereinafter set forth.

The front rail It is preferably of channelshaped cross-section, with the web portion ll joining the pair of opposed upper and lower leg portions l2 and I3, the height of said channel section being substantially equal to the vertical height of the cut-out mentioned, so as to fit snugly into the latter, as shown.

At the end of the front or cross rail that flts into the cut-out of the side wall, there is a slot M of approximately the same width as the thickness of flange material adjacent the cut-out, the front end of said slot being open at the front edge of said rail and extending rearwardly for a distance substantially equal to the horizontal distance between the edge and the front face of said side wall, so that when said rail is placed adjacent said cut-out, with said slot in registry with said edge 7 thereof, and forced forwardly, said slot will straddle said flange to either side of said material between the edge I and the flange material forwardly of the latter, and be seated when the front face of the rail is at the front face of the reentrant flange. Although only one end of the rail has been shown as connected in this manner to the side wall, it is obvious that the other end of the rail may be connected in a similar manner to the opposed side wall, the second connection not being shown in order to show the construction in the simplest manner.

The instant invention is especially intended to be used with a non-suspension type of drawer, so that the drawers are horizontally inovably ad- Justable along rigidly fixed horizontal rails, which are hereinafter termed drawer-receiving slide rails l5.

Each such slide rail is preferably channelshape in vertical cross-section, with the vertical web portion I5 connected to the upper and lower leg portions I1 and I8 respectively, and the vertical height of the section is such that tha same may be slidably received to fit within the open channel of the front rail as will be more clearly hereinafter seen, with the rear end of the slide rail affixable to the rear of the cabinet in any desired manner, as by spot welding or the like.

The finger portion 9 previously mentioned is preferably sprung back to permit passage of the bracket 2223 into assembled position within the flange 4, and may, if desired, then be bent toward its Original position to press against the rear face of the bracket arm 22.

A slot or notch It is formed between the meeting edges of the web and the upper leg portion of; the slide rail, said notch open at the forward end of the rail and extending rearwardly thereof to provide the vertical lip 20 from the web portion of said rail, the length of this lip being such that the lip will be superimposed on or overlap one face of the flange element that is within the front rail when the latter is fully seated, some suitable portion of the slide rail abutting against the interior of the slide rail,

as seen, when the slide rail is in furthermost forward position of assembly. Obviously, the notch l9 provides a vertically arranged space to receive and straddle that portion of the flange element that lies forwardly of the forward edge 1 of the cut-out. so that the lip lies against only the under side of said flange when the slide rail is seated in interlocked relation with the front rail, as shown.

With this type of cabinet, it is usual to provide some form of abutment for supporting the slidable drawer during entry of the latter into the slide rail, and a roller is generally employed for the purpose, and is indicated at 2 i said roller being carried on a bracket made, Of, a, pair Of arms 22-23 connected to extend angularly to one another.

This bracket element is fixedly mounted at the forward end of the slide rail, as through welding to the face of an upstanding flange 24 formed by bending back a portion of the upper leg portion of the slide rail, to form an opening 25 through the upper leg from which said flange 24 Was formed.

The forward leg 23 of the bracket element pro, jects forwardly to be closely adjacent, the inner face of the front of the flange 4 when the parts are in assembled position, and the arm 22 will then lie to the same side of the said flange area as that overlapped by the lip 20.

The bracket element is spaced vertically from the adjacent top face of the upper leg portion ll of the slide rail to permit insertion of the upper leg portion l2 of the front rail. In this construction, the front rail is first inserted into place and seated, and in which position the flange 4 has a portion lying within said front rail section rearwardly of its front face. Then the slide rail is manipulated into position by placing its bracket-carrying end so that the slide rail channel section will be received within the front rail section, with the lip slidably engaging and overlapping one face of said portion of the flange received within the rail slot, the notch I9 straddlin said last mentioned portion of the flange and with the upper leg portion of the slide rail 4 slidingly engaging and superimposed on the lower face of the upper leg portion of the front rail thereat, and at which position the arm 23 of the bracket element will be closely adjacent the inner face of the side wall flange. It will be noted that said arm 22 will overlap the same face of the said flange as that overlapped by the lip element. The members thus assembled may be more firmly locked together by one or more intervals of spot welding.

Although the slidable drawer itself has not been shown, the same is generally provided with rollers at the sides of the drawer, spaced apart a distance to ride along the lower leg l8 of the slide rail, the rollers entering the slide rail through the opening 25. A roller 2| is mixed on a horizontal aXis and carried by the arm 23 of the bracket element to extend inwardly from the adjacent side wall flange, and will form an abutment to limit adjustable sliding movement of the drawer and will rotatably support said drawer whenever the latter rests thereon while shifted between the front and rear of the cabinet.

Having thus described my invention, it is obvious that various immaterial changes in the form, arrangement, construction and combination herein shown and described, may be made without departing from the spirit of my invention; hence I do not wish to be limited therein except by the state of the art to which this invention appertains and by the claims appended.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a sheet metal filing cabinet provided with a side wall having a vertically extending reentrant front flange, a horizontal front rail of approximately channel-shaped cross-section, and a channel-section drawer-receivinghorizontal slide rail extending between the front and rear of the side wall, a joint construction interlocking all of said parts and comprising a vertically elongated cut-out extending forwardly from the rear edge of said flange, said front rail having spaced from its end a rearwardlyextending slot whereby said rail may be shifted forwardly with the slot in registry with the opposed vertical edge of said cut-out to straddle said flange thereat, and there being a re-arwardly extending notch at the forward end of said slide ran through its upper leg portion and closely adjacent its web portion to permit said end of said slide railto be inserted beneath said upper leg portion of the front rail and. then shifted forwardly with said notch in registry with the vertical edge of said cut-out until the'web portion of said slide rail is superimposed on said flange forwardly of said cutout.

2. In a filing cabinet of sheet metal provided with a side wall having a vertically extending reentrant front flange, a horizontal front rail of approximately channel-shaped cross-section, and a channel-section drawer-receiving slide rail extending between the front and rear of said side wall, a joint construction interlocking all of said parts and comprising a vertically elongated cutout opening forwardly from the rear edge of said flange, one end of said front rail provided with a slot open at the front of said rail and extending rearwardly therefrom, so that the rail may be shifted forwardly while the slot is in registry with said flange to straddle the latter to either side of said cut-out at the forward edge of said cut-out so that a portion of said flange is within the confines of said channel-section of the front rail, said slide rail being of such height to slidably enter between the channel section portions of said front rail, one end of said slide rail having a notch through its upper leg portion and closely adjacent its web portion to slidably receive the portion of said flange that is within said channel section of said front rail and to overlap on one face of said flange thereat, and a roller-carrying bracket on said slide rail end and arranged to slidably engage said flange on the same side as that engaged by said web portion of the slide rail.

3. In a sheet metal filing cabinet provided with a side wall with a vertically extending reentrant front flange, a horizontal front rail of approximately channel-shaped cross-section with a web joined to upper and lower leg portions, and a drawer-receiving slide rail extending horizontally from front to rear of said side wall, said slide rail being also of channel-section with a vertical web joined to upper and lower leg portions, a joint construction interlocking all of said parts and comprising a vertically extending cutout on said flange open at the rear edge of the latter and terminating a predetermined distance forwardly thereof and of a height substantially equal to that of the front rail section, one end of said front rail provided with a slot that is open at its front and extends rearwardly for a distance approximately equal to the horizontal distance between the forward end of said cut-out and the front of said flange so that said rail may be shifted forwardly and seated with its slot in registry with said flange to straddle the latter forwardly of said cut-out and receive said straddled portion of the flange within the front rail, said slide rail being of a height to fit within said front rail, one end of the web portion of the slide rail having a vertical forwardly extending lip spaced from the upper leg of its channel-section, with a vertical notch said leg portion and closely adjacent its web portion so that one side of said notch is defined by said web portion, said notch being of approximately the thickness of the flange, and a bracket mounted on and extending vertically from said end of the slide rail and there being a rearwardly extending horizontal opening between said rail and bracket and of substantially the thickness of the upper leg of said front rail to receive and straddle the upper leg portion of said front rail, so that after the latter is seated in the side wall said slide rail may be shifted forwardly with its vertical lip and the bracket overlapping one face of said flange forwardly of said cut-out and with its upper leg overlapping the under face of the top leg portion of the front rail.

JACK ADLER.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,247,712 Ohnstrand Nov. 27, 1917 1,934,644 'Rand Nov. '7, 1933 

